Hala Abdulhadi

Phil 1000
April 25/ 2017

What is evil? It is a term that is used very loosely and defined differently by many

people. Evil is what is morally wrong, sinful, and wicked. In every religion, race, ethnicity and

culture, people view evil in some distinct way. When the word evil is heard, one is instantly to

associate it with a negative outlook. One may consider a natural disaster such as a hurricane evil,

whereas another person may think that is foolish. It all depends on not only our beliefs but our

perception as well.

There are many concepts of evil. One form of concept is the broad aspect. The broad

concept picks out any bad state of affairs, wrongful action, or character flaw. The suffering of a

toothache is evil in the broad sense as is a white lie (Calder.2013). I do not agree with this

concept. Having a toothache or telling a simple lie such as being fifteen minutes late when really,

the person is half an hour late, absolutely should not be classified as evil. If it is a lie that can

have a negative effect on someones life or health, then it can be considered evil.

In my introduction, I used the word loosely as to how people use the term evil because

it is true. I hear the word evil used daily. It is associated with such unnecessary topics. For

example, if someone does not want to share their food with another person, does that really make

them evil? Maybe they are hungry, or dont have enough to share. The word is not only insulting

but hurtful. No one wants to be classified as evil, which is why people should educate themselves

on what it really means.

 I have always linked evil with things such as murder and betrayal. If one kills an innocent

person, that is considered evil. If you betray a family member or friend, by telling a secret or

intentionally hurting them, that is evil. I also believe that negligence is evil. If a parent refuses to

care for their child or abusing them in any way that would fit into the category of evil. Purposely

beating a person, killing, scarring or any type of physical or mental abuse that will be detrimental

to ones life is what I perceive as evil. A spouse committing adultery is also viewed as evil.

The perception of evil all leads back to ones beliefs. Some religions believe that it is

okay to consume alcoholic beverages, whereas in other religions it is forbidden. Cheating on a

spouse is considered a sin in some religions and in another it is okay to have multiple wives. In

most religions, pre-marital sex and condoning of drugs is considered not only a sin but evil. And

one who is involved in such things is looked down upon and corrupted.

Is drug using a form of evil activity? Some people use drugs for therapeutic reasons such

as cancer or other diseases. It is used to help ease pain from chronic diseases and even sometimes

help cure them, but I do believe that drugs can lead to demonic behaviors. But drugs, or more

specifically the abuse of drugs where a person is enslaved to them and/or where they induce an

altered state of consciousness, can affect a person sufficiently to contribute to demonic

oppression and/or possession. (Swanson.1997) Doing a form of drug that controls your mind,

makes you hallucinate and even become delusional can lead one to behave in unexpected ways.

One may do drugs or drink alcohol to escape from reality. For example; one may be physically

abused by their parent and drown their sadness away in alcohol and with overconsumption may

lead them to commit a crime such as murdering their parent. Anything in excess can lead to a
 disaster. So, drinking or doing drugs is not necessarily evil, its the amount of it that can

corrupt you to bad decision making.

I always hear people say, shes a good person or hes an evil person. What truly defines a

good versus evil person. Is one considered good if they are helpful, loyal, caring, honest,

considerate and do good deeds? Is one categorized as evil if they cheat, steal, lie and kill? One

can be trustworthy but innocently tell a secret that ruined ones reputation, does that make them

evil? It is situations like this that make me question, what evil really is? In every religion, we are

taught that God does not approve of evil. And most of us know what the common forms of evil

are, for example: murder. But we cant label someone as good or evil based on what is just on the

outside or an honest mistake. Evil in my opinion is continuously and purposely hurting one,

whether it is physically or mentally.

Although we live in a society, where everyone has free will, is basically everything we do

evil? Sometimes I wonder, is gambling, swearing, excessive drinking, dressing provocatively and

having sex all a form of being evil? I believe that in our world today, we have a lot of temptation

and influence that can lead us to unintentionally be evil, but that doesnt necessarily make us a

bad person. It all leads back to our beliefs and views and thats how we can define evil.

References

Calder, Todd, "The Concept of Evil", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2016

Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL =

<https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2016/entries/concept-evil/>.
Swanson, James. Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New

Testament). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997.

https://carm.org/can-drug-use-cause-demonic-possession